The Book of Ben Sira in the Bible, after beginning by presenting the importance of wisdom and the fear of God, delivers a series of varied maxims without a precise order on different issues of daily life, such as the importance of humility, duties towards priests and the poor, and, in particular, the importance of good and bad company.
The principles exposed by Ben Sira in his sapiential book are deeply practical and show the importance of seeking and living wisdom as a spiritual treasure that must be discovered, taught, and lived.
And regarding friendships and companionship, the master Ben Sira wisely taught the following phrase: "Limit the time when you are in the presence of fools, but linger as much as possible among those who are thoughtful" Ben Sira 27:12. This phrase from Ben Sira has a very precise practical meaning, because there is another phrase from the sapiential books that is very similar and says the following: "Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm" Proverbs 13:20.
Like any wise man, Ben Sira wondered what benefit could be gained from the company of fools, and concluded with his spiritual quote that, practically, more than benefits, with fools, there are only problems. And this is because fools only follow their passions and fleeting desires, without any long-term guidance in their actions; a fool thinks one thing one day and another thing the next day, depending on what suits him personally.
In contrast, wise and thoughtful people direct their thinking towards the most excellent thing, wisdom, and subject their thinking to the most perfect science, which makes these people predictable, benevolent, progressive, and edifying. In practical terms, then, blessedness consists of seeking out the wise and avoiding the foolish. But this is ultimately a voluntarist assertion, because in the end, like seeks like, and just as wise people do not like the company of fools, fools are repulsed by the company of wise people.
For more information, check out my profile, follow the link, and download my ebook.